Following the leaders

Senior Jamahl Williams has
broken up five passes from his safety spot for Kean so far this
season. Kean Athletics Photo by Larry Levanti

As Kean coach Dan Garrett conducted his exit interviews
following a disappointing 5-5 campaign last season, he noticed a
recurring ingredient many players felt was missing --
leadership.

With 20 rising seniors returning, Garrett debated different ways
to best utilize their collective leadership abilities. What he came
up with was a first for him as a coach.

Instead of naming three or four captains for the entire season,
Garrett instead opted to name captains for individual games.
Through four games this season, the Cougars have had 12 different
game captains. It's worked.

The Cougars have won all four of their games, including key wins
over ranked opponents in Wesley and Cortland State in back-to-back
weeks to open the season.

"Last year we didn't have the chemistry," Garrett said from his
office Monday afternoon. "We just didn't have it in the locker
room. We didn't have it on the field. It didn't mean we didn't have
talent, but this year we have that chemistry."

That chemistry has helped the Cougars climb from a team that
didn't receive a single vote in the preseason D3football.com Top 25
poll, to a team that's ranked 10th in the country just five weeks
later.

And Kean has managed to win in a variety of ways this season. A
low-scoring slugfest? Check -- this past Saturday's 7-6 win over
TCNJ. A high-scoring, yet still comfortable win? Got it -- a 44-33
win over Western Connecticut two weeks ago. A seemingly improbable
upset over a more talented squad? You bet -- a 31-28 win over
Wesley in the season opener. How about, just for good measure, a
come-from-behind win against another higher-ranked opponent? Of
course -- a 21-16 victory over Cortland.

"The thing that's really not seen on paper is our kids'
resiliency," Garrett said. "They just don't get flustered and they
don't panic. They just have a great composure."

Leadership, composure, raw talent -- the Cougars seem to have
everything you look for in a legitimate playoff contender. But
Garrett will be the first to tell you -- it wasn't always this way.
With improved success since Garrett took over as head coach in
2006, the Cougars have seen the benefits in recruiting and now
boast the deepest team in school history.

From the program's first season in 1970 through 2005, the results
were modest -- only seven winning seasons, two NJAC championships
(one shared) and two ECAC appearances (one win in 1994). Over the
nine-year period from 1996-2004, Kean compiled a paltry 14-73
record.

Since Garrett took over the reins, the Cougars have gone 37-20
with three ECAC appearances (wins in 2006 and 2009). But the team
still seeks that elusive first NCAA playoff berth. Garrett is
counting on his seniors to lead the Cougars to it.

Garrett points to left tackle Dave Vermeuel, center Jamie Pratt
and right guard Dave Galante, all seniors that have served as game
captains at some point this season, as key cogs offensively. The
same can be said defensively about safety Jamahl Williams, middle
linebacker Bekim Bujari and nose tackle Ray Wegrzynek, all seniors
that were named captains for specific games.

Tom D'Ambrisi has thrown just
four interceptions in four games and has completed 58 percent of
his passes, each improvements over last season.
Kean athletics photo

Garrett, who admitted the approach was "definitely an
experiment," said that, so far, it has paid dividends. Garrett said
egos got in the way and, ultimately, derailed last season. With
different lead voices each week, Garrett said his players can't be
tempted to fall into the often inevitable false sense of
grandeur.

"Sometimes that [title of captain is] more just an entitlement,"
Garrett said. "It doesn't mean that guy is the best leader in the
weight room, it doesn't mean that guy is the best leader on the
field, it just means that he might be your best football
player."

Garrett's group of seniors have pulled their weight on the field
this season. Senior linebacker Richard Esdaile spearheaded the
Cougars' defense in the slugfest against TCNJ, tallying 10 tackles
(five for a loss) and two sacks. Senior running back Chris DiMicco
piled up 195 yards and two touchdowns on the ground against Western
Connecticut. Bujari (eight tackles, two pass breakups, one blocked
extra point) and senior lineman James-Edwards Boyd (nine tackles)
helped keep Cortland at bay. And senior quarterback Tom D'Ambrisi,
who is having the finest season of his career, was at his best
against Wesley, completing 21 of 36 passes for 259 yards and three
touchdowns.

D'Ambrisi has also benefited from the addition of quarterback
coach Mike Teel, a former standout at Rutgers and 2009 sixth-round
pick of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks.

"It's easier to get coached by a quarterback at the quarterback
position [rather] than a guy who maybe never played it, but knows a
lot about it," Garrett said. "There's something to be said about
the intricacies of that position."

Under Teel's tutelage, D'Ambrisi is on pace for his best season.
D'Ambrisi currently ranks second in yards and third in touchdowns
in the NJAC.

But even beyond D'Ambrisi's impressive performance, it's fair to
argue that Kean's special teams is the biggest reason for the 4-0
start.

Through four games, the Cougars have four blocked kicks. Two punt
blocks directly resulted in touchdowns, another blocked punt led to
a touchdown on Kean's next play, and a blocked extra point kept a
crucial point off the board for Cortland. Without the two blocked
punts against Wesley, Kean almost certainly doesn't win that game.
Kean also ranks first in the NJAC in kickoff return average and
kickoff coverage average.

Garrett, who played and coached at Montclair State until taking
over as Kean's defensive coordinator in 2003, makes sure to
emphasize special teams, probably more than most coaches. The first
meeting the team holds in training camp each season is devoted to
special teams. From there, the Cougars spend at least 30 minutes at
every practice focusing on special teams.

Whether all of these early successes foreshadow a special season
remains to be seen. Garrett said the defense has left the
bend-don't-break mentality behind and shown improvement over the
last two weeks. Combine that with a favorable schedule over the
next three weeks (vs. Buffalo State, at Brockport State, vs.
Morrisville State) and it's not hard to picture the Cougars sitting
at 7-0 overall.

"I'm one of those coaches, I don't really ever feel good ...
ever," Garrett said with a laugh. "... We really haven't played our
best football yet. We just haven't. For four quarters, we have not
done that yet for a full 60 minutes."

Garrett, who preaches the simplistic pairing of effort and
execution, will continue to lean on his 20 seniors. They've gotten
the team this far.

"We don't win pretty," Garrett said. "We don't put style points
up. We find a way to get it done. We find a way to persevere."

Who are you, St. John Fisher?
That's the question I've been asking repeatedly since the
Cardinals' 17-3 win over defending Empire 8 champion Alfred this
past Saturday. Who are you?

Are you the team that dominated Rochester in the Courage Bowl? Or
are you the team laid an egg against Hobart just one week later?
Or, just maybe, are you the team that forced six turnovers and held
a potent Alfred offense to just three points this weekend? While
the Cardinals' season certainly has been and up-and-down one, the
peak so far is the win against Alfred.

St. John Fisher hadn't defeated Alfred since 2007 and, in the
process, snapped Alfred's seven-game Empire 8 winning streak, which
dated back to 2009. The Cardinals' defense tormented quarterback
Tom Secky, who finished 12-of-27 for just 96 yards and four
interceptions. Dave Vosburgh led the defensive charge with 13
tackles, a tackle for a loss, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
Collectively, the Cardinals broke up eight passes in one of the
more dominant defensive performances of the season.

The last time Alfred was held without a touchdown in a game was a
24-0 loss to Ithaca in 2004. Now, the Saxons face an uphill, though
hardly impossible, battle to bring home another Empire 8 title. At
3-1 overall and 1-1 in the conference, Alfred is one of four teams
with a 1-1 Empire 8 mark. Salisbury (2-0) and St. John Fisher (1-1)
lead the way. But with six more weeks left in the regular season,
my best guess is that St. John Fisher will remain one of the top
contenders in the Empire 8. Of course, that could change next week.
Stay tuned.

Make room, St. Lawrence -- Hobart's back at the
party
In back-to-back weeks, Hobart has defeated St. John Fisher by 36
points and defending Liberty League champion St. Lawrence by 23
points. That's a dominating two-week stretch, one that might
foreshadow a run at a Liberty League championship for the
Statesmen.

After their destruction of St. John Fisher two weeks -- which was
as dominant as it was unexpected -- the Statesmen followed it up
with a 23-0 blanking of St. Lawrence in their home opener. The
Hobart defense, led by Tyre Coleman (2.5 sacks) and Devin
Worthington (five tackles, one forced fumble, one pass breakup)
held the Saints to just six first downs and 86 total yards of
offense.

Offensively, the Statesmen were balanced and efficient, rushing
for 188 yards on 46 carries and passing for 139 yards on 25
attempts. Quarterback Nick Strang threw one touchdown and ran for
another as he continued his strong season. Strang ranks first in
the conference with a 60 percent completion percentage this year,
and his seven passing touchdowns rank third.

Hobart will get another Liberty League test this weekend when it
faces a suddenly-hot Union team on the road. Union has won
back-to-back conference games to take an early lead. The winner of
Saturday's matchup will sit in first place in the conference.

Don't call it a Ly-comeback -- Lycoming routs
Albright
For anyone ready to write off Lycoming, you might want to hold
that thought. Just one week after a disappointing loss to Widener,
the Warriors bounced back with a convincing 35-13 win over
previously unbeaten Albright.

Lycoming's defense forced five turnovers -- two of which the
Warriors scored on -- to shut down the Lions. Kabongo Bukasa
returned an interception 65 yards for a touchdown with only 10
seconds left in the first half to put Lycoming up 14-0. Ryan
Fenningham returned a fumble eight yards for a touchdown in the
fourth quarter to seal the victory.

Parker Showers (69 yards, one touchdown) and Craig Needhamme (52
yards, one touchdown) formed a potent one-two punch in the running
game for Lycoming (3-1 overall, 1-1 MAC). The loss hurts Albright
(4-1, 2-1), but the Lions remain in the thick of the MAC race. At
this point, Delaware Valley (5-0, 2-0) looks like the odds-on
favorite, but Lycoming showed Saturday it plans to remain in the
discussion.

Rowan rolls past Western Connecticut
Rowan's loss to Cortland State two weeks ago left the Profs at a
disappointing 1-2 overall. Any worries suddenly seem like a thing
of the past.

Rowan bounced back with a lopsided 51-14 win over Western
Connecticut, cementing its status as one of the premier teams in
the NJAC. The Colonials haven't won a game since Nov. 7, 2009. This
is the kind of game Rowan should have dominated. They did just
that.

Louie Bianchini passed for 217 yards and three touchdowns and
added another 83 yards rushing in a strong performance. Bianchini
connected with Kevin DelleDonne on a seven-yard score late in the
second quarter to put Rowan up 24-7.

Bianchini struck again in the third quarter, hooking up with Eddie
Eisenhart on a 20-yard touchdown pass. Running back Steve Hevalow
added 108 rushing yards and a pair of scores as Rowan flexed its
offensive muscles. And when the Profs weren't scoring on offense,
they were putting up points on defense.

Moe Ghotok returned one of Rowan's seven interceptions 79 yards
for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Rowan dominated the
game in every facet possible, a sign that, despite some
early-season hiccups, they should be in the mix for an NJAC title
at the end of the season.

Delaware Valley (No. 16) had the week's biggest jump, moving up
from No. 21 a week ago. Salisbury (No. 22) also jumped up, moving
up three spots from No. 25.

Alfred, the region's only ranked team to lose this past weekend,
fell from No. 14 to No. 23.

Quick hits
Dan Ruffrage caught six passes for 75 yards and a touchdown and
returned a kickoff 91 yards for another score to lead Ithaca past
Hartwick 27-13. Mike Conti intercepted Hartwick quarterback Dan
Brainard's pass and returned it 88 yards for a touchdown on the
final play of the game to seal Ithaca's win. ... Mike Hermann
passed for 218 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 110 yards
and another two scores to lead RPI to a 28-24, come-from-behind win
over Rochester. Hermann's 59-yard touchdown run early in the fourth
quarter cut Rochester's lead to 24-21. Late in the fourth, Hermann
connected with Austin Caswell on a 41-yard scoring strike to put
the Engineers up for good. ... Josh Carter had the vaunted
Springfield triple-option offense looking sharp in the Pride's
41-21 win over Merchant Marine. Carter piled up 185 rushing yards
and four touchdowns, and added another score through the air, as
Springfield cruised. Chase Dunn caught a pair of touchdowns for
Merchant Marine. ... Chris Haupt set career highs with 346 passing
yards and five touchdowns in Widener's record-setting 70-0 win over
King's. Widener set a school record for most lopsided victory.
Seven players scored touchdowns for the Pride. Chad Gravinese (four
tackles, 1.5 sacks) spearheaded a defense that collected six sacks
and forced two turnovers. ... Drew Connolly connected with Justin
Gallo on touchdown passes of 33, 28 and 86 yards to help Union
tally a 34-31 win over WPI. Connolly finished with 301 yards, 234
of which went to Gallo on his seven receptions. Ernie Mello scored
three touchdowns -- two on rushes and one on a blocked punt
recovery -- for WPI. ... Rich Pete rushed for 118 yards and a
touchdown and Ismail Brooks tallied 77 yards and three touchdowns
as Buffalo State (2-3 overall, 2-2 NJAC) defeated William Paterson
42-27. Pasquale Vacchio was a force defensively, piling up 11
tackles and two sacks, along with a 33-yard interception return for
touchdown. ... Zach Tivald rushed for 172 yards and three
touchdowns to power Wilkes past FDU-Florham 45-25. Tate
Moore-Jacobs had a team-best 12 tackles, 1.5 sacks and an
interception. Andrew Regan returned a third-quarter kickoff 85
yards for a touchdown as Wilkes improved to 2-2 overall and 2-1 in
the MAC.

Looking ahead
St. John Fisher (3-1, 1-0 E8) will look for a second straight win
when it travels to Ithaca (3-1, 1-1 E8) for a 1 p.m. kickoff
Saturday. The Cardinals suffered a letdown against Hobart after
their last impressive win. If that happens again, Ithaca could
score its first win over St. John Fisher since 2005.

Two of the premier teams not only in the NJAC and East region, but
the entire country will meet when No. 11 Montclair State (4-0, 3-0
NJAC) hosts No. 15 Cortland State (3-1, 3-1 NJAC) at 1 p.m.
Saturday. This writer has had this matchup circled on his calendar
for many months. The last three meetings have all been decided by
single digits, including last season's 10-9 Cortland victory.

Two Liberty League teams have yet to lose a conference game this
season. One of them will when Union (2-3, 2-0 LL) hosts Hobart
(3-0, 1-0 LL) at 1 p.m. Saturday. Hobart won a high-scoring game
last season and, after registering back-to-back wins against St.
John Fisher and St. Lawrence, has emerged as one of the biggest
surprise teams of the season.